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"I did archery as a kid and that was not a normal archery arrow. The umpires dealt with it very well. There were no questions asked - we went off very quickly.

"Someone saw it in flight, there was a noise when it landed but it happened so quick. It is a deadly weapon for sure, if it had hit someone it would have caused some serious damage.

"You have to be diligent, it would be stupid not to be but if you're constantly worrying about what is going to happen that is not a great place to be.

"If it is a crossbow rather than a longbow it is probably someone messing around and not understanding the implications of firing something into the air.

"Let's hope it's a couple of people who will feel pretty ashamed in the morning when they realise what happened."

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Surrey chief executive Richard Gould echoed Batty's sentiments: "It is the sort of thing that could easily have been fired some distance from outside the ground if it came from a crossbow," he said.

"It could very easily have killed someone. It had a pointed end and stuck in the turf when it crossed the outfield and landed, although we are not ballistics experts.

"We do not know if it was fired deliberately or if it just landed on our green space. It's a lightweight projectile but one which looked as if it could have travelled 800 metres. We acted on the basis that we had to make safety the main precaution as we had no other evidence.

"It is pure speculation where it came from because it is a very dense area around the ground. We are investigating reports that there was a noise on the roof of the OCS Stand but we haven't been able to get up there to see whether it was the projectile ricocheting off the roof or a separate projectile.

Armed police arrived on the scene within 15 minutes (Image: PA)

"We may never find out if it was a deliberate act, but in these heightened times these sorts of acts are wholly irresponsible.

"People should not feel threatened in this way. If it is more than mischief-making then we need to find the perpetrators. We will review our security arrangements but threats can be so wide-ranging.

"There is probably no way of securing against this type of incident if it was fired from outside. We always try and provide the safest type of environment but it can be very difficult to stop this kind of act."

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Surrey committee member Colin Hunt was also evacuated from the game.

He told Get Surrey : “I was sitting in the members’ pavilion, the lower side of it, and I looked across and I saw a bolt hitting the second wicket

"I don’t know if it was from the ground or the outside. it is ludicrous, I don't know what the motive was, this is crazy. What were they trying to achieve? It's senseless."

Sir Robin of Loxley?

Surrey paceman Stuart Meaker tweeted after the incident: "Well... we have just officially gone off the field because a metal tipped arrow just landed on the pitch!"

Middlesex batsman Compton, who was on 28 not out at the time, joked: "Sir Robin of Loxley has just arrived at the Oval."

No arrests have been made in connection with the incident and police continue to appeal for information and witness accounts.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Met Police on 101 or call Crimestoppers charity anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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